Home Based Business Opportunity or Scam? You Decide

A Home Business Article Contributed by Donna m. Brown

Is Your Home Based Business Opportunity Real?

A home based business opportunity could be lurking around any corner. For years great million dollar opportunities have been popping up in our mailboxes, in newspaper classified ads and (uninvited) onto our computer screens via e-mail. Some home based business opportunities are legitimate and fair. Some require you to spend money for information guaranteed to make you rich if you ever receive it.

Computer savvy people are especially easy to convince when it comes to the offer of a no-fail home based business opportunity. People who know their way around computers are smart, forward thinking, brave (hey, anyone who has mastered the Internet is brave) and generally open minded when it comes to new ideas and the furthering of technology.

With a re-emphasis on family in America, many people believe coupling the computer with a home based business opportunity is the perfect way to have their cake and eat it to ... and sometimes, they're right. People who telecommute can save hundreds of hours every month by eliminating the commute to work. That's a lot of family time and family time is precious. Is it so precious that we are willing to turn a blind eye to the scams of those who prey on nice guys like us?

Don't be Fooled by a Bogus Home Based Business Opportunity

If a home based business opportunity arrives in your e-mail account uninvited, someone out there is taking a chance that some of the thousands of people they SPAM with delusions of grandeur will bite. Will you be one of them?

Remember, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." If someone offers you a job making more money than you could imagine for far less work than you're doing now, beware. Nothing worthwhile comes without serious commitment and hard work. Don't be taken in.

Testimonials are a common tactic that electronic con artists use to lure you in. Keep in mind that if you don't know the person offering the testimony personally, or if you don't know that person's reputation, ethics or checkbook balance, you shouldn't rely on vague information about the location of golden eggs scattered over the information superhighway.

Don't buy lists of companies that are looking for home workers. If you have to pay to get a job, it's probably not the right job for you. When you find the right employer, that business will pay you to work for them.

If a home based business opportunity is there for you today, it should be there for you tomorrow. Pressure to accept a business opportunity the moment its offered is a warning sign. Never commit the same day a home based business opportunity is offered to you.

Expect some start up costs with any home based business opportunity and expect to pay a fair, reasonable price for the products and services you require. Beware when sales people start pushing deep discounts and packages to get you started. Regulation of home based business opportunity investments of less than $500 is scarce. Don't fall victim to hunters seeking naïve prey.

There are organizations available to help you determine the legitimacy of any business organization. Search the Internet for others who may have had dealings with the organization that offers you such a great deal. Contact government entities that regulate such businesses and seek the advice of the Better Business Bureau.

Commit Your Home Based Business Opportunity to Writing

Know exactly what you can expect when accepting a home based business opportunity and get it in writing. Meet the individual that agrees to get you started in person before investing any money. If possible, have an attorney review any contract before you sign on the dotted line.

Home based business opportunities are a great way to keep Americans with their families. They are a great way to spare the environment and to promote commerce in rural areas of our country. The people who seek them are also as a whole, a gold mine for con artists who have established their own home based businesses by stealing from you.